Vancouver librarian offers clues on ‘Sherlock Holmes’

Actor Robert Downey Jr. might seem an interesting choice to play the seminal fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. He’s not British, and he doesn’t fit the physical description of the protagonist in the Guy Ritchie film opening Dec. 25.

“Sherlock Holmes was tall and thin with a hook nose. Robert Downey Jr. is too good-looking,” said Teresa Torres, a Cascade Park Community librarian and longtime fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who wrote the series.

Still, Downey Jr. and Holmes do have one thing in common some might find surprising. The actor famously battled drugs and alcohol for years, and cocaine was among the substances he struggled with. It was a drug Holmes indulged in as well, to the dismay of his sidekick and chronicler, Dr. John Watson.

Torres, a 57-year-old Vancouver resident, has been intrigued by Sherlock Holmes since her teens.

“I love (the stories). I like mysteries, and I love how Sherlock Holmes uses his brain to figure out the crimes. He was always very logical and precise,” she said.